Home carbonation setup

Do you drink carbonated water? We do. We go through about a liter a day. We figure that adds up to maybe $250 a year in carbonated water. Its also a lot of greenhouse gases burned, since each bottle of water travels hundreds, if not thousands of miles to reach our door. So we wanted a better solution. I searched for ways to carbonate our own beverages online, and all of the standard products cost about $.50 per liter, and that's after you pay $100-$200 for the product. Commercial units cost maybe $1500-$2000. All of that seemed like too much and also extraordinarily high for what was essentially putting carbon dioxide in water. So I sought out out a do-it-yourself unit and found that I could make a contraption that would work with only a few hours of work and less than $100 in parts.

Most of the folks who have attended Dinner on 12th have had some of our homemade carbonated water. We use a set up that consists of a 20 lb. CO2 tank, a regulator, some tube, and a plastic fitting. It took about 45 minutes to put together, and another two hours to do all the shopping. The CO2 tank supposedly carbonates about 1000 littres of water, making the price about five cents per liter. Below is a link that will walk you step-by-step through with the purchase, where you can get it, and how to put it together. If you end up doing this, let me know how it works out.

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Soda-Water-%26-Home-Carbonation---Pays-For-Itsel/

March Dinner on 12th menu

Mushroom dinner: From the simple to the decadent

Is it spring yet?!? Please? I keep hoping to see the first sweet peas or, dare I dream, fresh fava beans at the market. But alas, winter still is hanging on. So, we'll just go with it and work with what we've got. For dinner I'm highlighting our glorious local mushroom, from a simple peasant farro pie from Lucca (Torta Salata di Farro) to a very decadent potato gratin made with an incredible truffle butter I got last week at the opening weekend of the PSU farmer's market. And I still have a few stashes of huckleberries in our freezer from last season, saving them for a day like this when I really need a shot of summer. So, I think I'll bust those out too. Here is the tentative plan - unless of course those favas make an appearance in the next two days, then all bets are off!

Torta Salata di Farro with Mushrooms*
Truffled* Purple Potato* Gratin
Roasted Beet* and Carrots* on a Bed of Arugula*

Lemon Curd* and Huckleberry* Tart

* = locally grown